The Lamplit Hour

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/3929/thumbnail.jp

Bank employees’ engagement in corporate social responsibility initiatives at a South African retail bank

Abstract: Many firms encourage employees to undertake corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects. With any project, it is important that firm resources are committed to create valued outcomes for stakeholders. Research purpose: The study purpose was to gain insight into criteria that can practically help define the success of employee run CSR projects. Motivation for the study: CSR activities are reported in literature as creating valuable intangible and tangible assets for firms when planned as strategies to improve brand reputation, customer loyalty and future profit. This research reviews a South African retail bank that promotes CSR undertakings to employees exploring the bank’s support for employees engaged in CSR. Research design, approach and method: Two of the bank’s completed community CSR projects were identified by the bank’s senior CSR managers for this review. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with employees, bank CSR managers and project recipients. Participant interviews were transcribed into text then analysed to identify where stakeholder value diminished on these projects..

RETIREMENT PLANNING FROM A CAREER SELF-MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE: A TEST OF SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY

Although the retirement transition is a complex and multifaceted process for older workers, much of the existing research only examines retirement from a financial or “encore career” perspective (i.e., work after retirement, which represents only one of several possible retirement lifestyles). As the baby boomer generation nears retirement age, a more comprehensive understanding of retirement is needed to improve successful planning for this transition. The career self-management model of social cognitive career theory was used as the conceptual base for the current study. Based on this model, five new social cognitive measures of retirement planning (self- efficacy, outcome expectations, supports, anxiety, and decidedness) and a revised goal measure were developed and administered to 525 older workers anticipating retirement in the near future. Data from the first 200 participants in the sample were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and other analyses to estimate their reliability and validity. Data from the remaining 325 participants were then subjected to confirmatory analysis and to path analyses to predict retirement planning anxiety, decidedness, and goals. The data provided good overall fit to the career self- management model, and support was found for most, though not all, predicted paths in the model. Implications of the findings for the career self-management model, as well as for future research and practice directions, are considered

A revaluation of the serious thematic concerns of three plays of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher as they are revealed in character development

Twentieth-century critical assessment of the works of Beaumont and Fletcher usually ranges from charges of decadence to immorality. Modern critics have posited psychological interpretations, maintaining that Beaumont and Fletcher sacrifice plot and character development for the sake of emotional rhetoric and dramatic situations designed to produce maximum audience response. Chapter One of this study seeks to demonstrate that there is an alarming inconclusiveness about the judgment of modern critics. The intention of the entire study is to show how the internal evidence of three plays supports them as serious and creditable, though minor, works of art and overthrows the basic charges of modern criticism against them. In the opinion of this writer Beaumont and Fletcher do give careful attention to character and thematic development and their works do contribute significant insights into the nature of man and his struggle in the universe

Guest Editorial

A novel blood test for tuberculosis prevention and treatmen

General ecosystem health indicators – A scoping review

Background: Assessing the health status of a natural ecosystem is important across all natural fields of study. Ecologists have discussed and used a variety of terms to describe the health of ecosystems, yet consistent use or adoption of a set of terms has not been established. A common vernacular is necessary to convey the status of an ecosystem to any audience, particularly to influence policy. The purpose of this review is to explore the terms associated with general ecosystem health metrics. Methods: A scoping literature review was performed within three databases, using a search string informed by place, interest, and outcome, a modified PICO (Place, Interest, Comparison, Outcome) structure. A three-stage review process was conducted, at title only, abstract, and full text, respectively. The second and third stages were conducted by two independent reviewers. Key ecosystem health indicator terms were extracted from the final article list and categorized into composite terms or individual indicators for the assessment of general ecosystem health. Results: The initial search yielded 4733 articles, of which 701 were included for screening at the abstract level. A subsequent full-text review of 118 peer-reviewed articles found 95 distinct indicators and 109 multi-metric index systems that qualify under the study search criteria from a total of 64 scientific journals over 20 years. Conclusions: We found a substantial diversity of ecological health terminologies and concepts, reflecting various scientific traditions and disciplines, which highlight not only the necessity to standardize the language for communication but also the opportunity for cross-fertilization. Single distinct indicators were as frequently used as multi-metric index systems. For academic purposes, this raises the question of how underlying value statements and ethical dimensions differ between integrated health terminologies and concepts. For advocacy, we emphasize the need of a consistent core terminology to improve the effectiveness of our messaging